This invention relates to the type of apparatus used by the bottling industry for applying closures to bottles.
In this industry, bottles are filled and closed during a plurality of successive operations which are performed by large, complex and expensive machinery. The apparatus must comprise means for infeeding the bottles to a multi-station filler. The apparatus must also comprise means for transferring the bottles from the filler, means for applying closures of both the roll-on and crimp-on type to the bottles and outfeed means for the closed bottles.
When a crimp-on closure such as a crown is to be applied to a bottle, the closure applying means must be specifically adapted to apply crowns. The entire unit is then manufactured with crown applying heads which cannot be used to apply roll-on caps to bottles. In some instances, roll-on cap type bottles have been filled and closed with machines which have been designed for and include means for filling as well as closing crown type bottles. These machines were used in combination with additional means for applying roll-on caps. In these instances, the expensive crown applying means has been a useless appendage of a rather inflexible piece of equipment. In other instances, entire turrets including heads have been substituted to permit crowns or roll-on caps to be applied. The substitution of turrets is undesirable because of the excessive down time and the necessity for outside rigging help.
The invention set forth in copending application Ser. No. 41,283, filed May 28, 1970, and now U.S. Pat. No. 3,660,963, and assigned to the assignee of this invention, solves the foregoing problems by providing a closure applying turret assembly having interchangeable crimp-on closure applying heads and roll-on closure applying heads. The turret includes slide cam means which cooperate with either the roll-on closure applying heads or crimp-on closure applying heads which are mounted in guide ways at a plurality of revolving head mounts to provide a reciprocating motion of the heads.
Each head which is mounted in the turret is raised and lowered as it moves along the fall, dwell and rise of the slide cam. In both a crimp-on and a roll-on closure applying operation, the head is lowered and in contact with the bottle while the head cooperates with the lower dwell of the slide cam.
Although the same slide cam may be utilized for both a crimp-on and a roll-on closure applying operation, it has now been found that there is some risk of bottle breakage during the crimp-on closure applying operation when the same slide cam is utilized. Since the crimp-on closure applying operation involves the application of substantial force to the closure as it rests on the bottle, a substantial force is transmitted to the bottle, e.g., 750 lbs. When the crimp-on closure applying head is maintained in the lower dwell position for the same length of time that the roll-on closure applying head is maintained in the lower dwell position, the force on the bottle is sustained over a substantial period of time and this sustained force may in some instances be sufficient to break a glass bottle or collapse a plastic bottle.